Mingei International Museum?s The Collectors? Gallery will present a trunk show of African crafts at the Museum in Balboa Park. Traditional handmade objects imported from Africa by local female entrepreneurs, including Safia Ali and Mary Nzai-Page, will be available.
Safia Ali, proprietor of Somalian Arts & Crafts in San Diego, fled persecution and violence in Somalia in 1985 and legally resettled in the United States in 1991. She has since become an American citizen. She imports Somalian items handmade from wood and animal hides, and also baskets, jewelry, clothing and items of everyday use, such as drinking cups and camel bells.
Mary Nzai-Page, the owner of the import business Tropical Heritage, is a refugee from Kenya. Her business shares profits with a women?s shelter in Liberia, and, in Kenya, a widows? cooperative and an orphanage. Her products, all handmade in Africa, include jewelry, carved wooden totems, masks, baskets and decorative items for the home. Some are made by the children in the Mwala orphanage.
Both businesses and many others are supported by the Women?s Empowerment Center for STAR (Support, Training and Assistance to Refugee) Women, a nonprofit business incubator for refugee women like Safia Ali and Mary Nzai-Page in the City Heights community of San Diego. The STAR Center, a partnership between Women?s Empowerment International and the International Rescue Committee, provides business loans, grants, workshops, and one-on-one entrepreneurial assistance to refugee women.
.
Admission: FREE
Location: 1439 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101
For more information:
Phone: 619-239-0003
or
Visit: http://www.mingei.org
Safia Ali, proprietor of Somalian Arts & Crafts in San Diego, fled persecution and violence in Somalia in 1985 and legally resettled in the United States in 1991. She has since become an American citizen. She imports Somalian items handmade from wood and animal hides, and also baskets, jewelry, clothing and items of everyday use, such as drinking cups and camel bells.
Mary Nzai-Page, the owner of the import business Tropical Heritage, is a refugee from Kenya. Her business shares profits with a women?s shelter in Liberia, and, in Kenya, a widows? cooperative and an orphanage. Her products, all handmade in Africa, include jewelry, carved wooden totems, masks, baskets and decorative items for the home. Some are made by the children in the Mwala orphanage.
Both businesses and many others are supported by the Women?s Empowerment Center for STAR (Support, Training and Assistance to Refugee) Women, a nonprofit business incubator for refugee women like Safia Ali and Mary Nzai-Page in the City Heights community of San Diego. The STAR Center, a partnership between Women?s Empowerment International and the International Rescue Committee, provides business loans, grants, workshops, and one-on-one entrepreneurial assistance to refugee women.
.
Admission: FREE
Location: 1439 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101
For more information:
Phone: 619-239-0003
or
Visit: http://www.mingei.org
